For New York- It's wait till Next Year

A bittersweet ending for the Bronx faithful and a bitter bitter ending for the Flushing followers.

The Yankees finished their first season since 1994 out of the Postseason, but it ended on a joyful note for the one most written off to start the season and the one who ended the season most successfully, Mike "Moose" Mussina. In what may have been his ticket punch into Cooperstown, Moose went six strong shutout innings and needed a 4 out save for what might have been the greatest regular season for the Greatest Closer of All Time, Mariano Rivera, to become the oldest pitcher in baseball history to win 20 games for his first time (at the age of 39).
To start the season, Moose was written off as the guy who would be replaced by Joba in the rotation once he was ready to step into that role. All Moose did was win 20 games, throw 200+ innings for the first time in 6 years and end up with a 3.37 ERA, his lowest ERA since 2001, his first as a Yankee. While Moose never won a Championship as a Yankee, he was actually once of the few pitchers who lived up to his big contract as he compiled a 123-71 record in his 8 years as a Yankee. While Moose wasn't a great postseason pitcher he was always one of the primary and consistent performers who got them there. Where he will be next season still remains a question, but Moose gave 8 very good years to the Yankees.
The Yankees showed some optimism going into 2009 as Phil Hughes had 2 excellent starts to end the season, they might have found the bridge to Mariano in Phil Coke, who in his short stint this season showed incredible poise and promise with a .61 ERA in 14 IP with 14 K's. Cano found his hitting stroke late in the season, Wang looks to be fully recovered from his season ending injury and the coffers are way open to sign a CC or a Burnett in the offseason.

The same cant be said of the mess that ended in Queens yesterday. In 2007 like fashion the Mets were finished off by the lowly Marlins and go into another offseason wondering if things will or can change with this current squad. The Wright, Reyes, Beltran and Delgado led Mets once again failed to produce any offense down the stretch and wasted two of the greatest pitching performances in Mets history on the final Saturday of the season (Santana's unreal performance this Saturday and Maine's equally great performance last year).
The bullpen let them down, but no more so than it's stars, sans Beltran who has proven he is one of the great clutch players in the game today. Wright finished in the .240's with runners in scoring position, Reyes batted .243 this Sept after a season well over .300 to that point, and as great as Delgado had been down the stretch he finished 2 for his last 15 with 1 RBI his last 4 games of the season, a most uninspiring time for a slump.
The Mets have a lot to build on with a good core of players, including Beltran, Wright and Reyes. Santana has been even better than advertised if that's even possible. They will undoubtedly shell out MAJOR buckos for K-Rod. They will have the excitement of a new stadium but they will also have the giant monkey on their back called September Collapse. With that being said, I loved the job Manuel did this season. He held it together and scraped together and a chance going into the final game with perhaps the worst bullpen in major league history that almost made a postseason. For crying out loud, Louis Ayala, a man cut by the Washington Nationals was their closer! I think the Mets ownership should think long and hard before they extend Minaya to a long term deal. He left a lot of gaping holes this season and for all the credit he gets for locking up Santana when Cashman and Theo couldn't, he needs to take the blame for this collapse. He deserves another year, just not four

A most fitting end

On the night the Yankees were officially eliminated from Postseason play for the first time in 13 years, the man that could have gotten them there might have just pitched the crosstown rival Mets back into it.
It was only a few short months ago that Brian Cashman, Yankees GM, decided the future lied with Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and Jose Tabata and not with whom was known around the league as the best pitcher in the game, Johan Santana.
Not to be a Monday Morning Quarterback, the People's Champ officially liked this aproach back in the winter because of a few reasons:

• The Yankees needed to develop their own pitchers and Hughes and Kennedy showed exceptional poise and promise in their brief 2007 debuts.
• Santana for all his greatness had a declining strkieout rate, WHIP and ERA were increasing ever so slightly over the last few seasons and he had a very uncharactaristically bad 2nd half in 2007 (5-7 4.04 ERA). Plus..........
• He would command a new contract that the Mets eventually paid $137.5M for 6 years, a lot of money and a lot of years to tie up in a pitcher. Pitchers, much more than hitters tend to not live up to their big and longterm contracts (some notables, Mike Hampton, Zito, Kevin Brown, Carl Pavano and even the Mets own Pedro Martinex who did well his first year and not so well since). With that being said, usually the greats do live up to the signings, such as Maddox with the Braves and to a large extent Mussina with the Yanks). With the hope of Andy Pettitte and his 1 year deal and figuring Andy would maybe get 2 less wins than Johan, it wasn't worth the gamble.
• The Yanks had a good core of young pitchers (at least we thought) in Wang, Joba, Hughes and Kennedy, with Pettitte to round out the core (notice Mussina and his current 19 wins and counting were an afterthought?).

Well, we now know Hughes has spent most of the season on the DL and when healthy has been less than impressive (although he has shown some return to his promise form recently). Kennedy was putrid at the Major League level, Joba was brilliant but also fell to injury and Wang missed most of the year with an injury.
Santana? All he's done is pitch 16 STRAIGHT GAMES WITHOUT A LOSS in a pennant race. He leads the NL with a 2.64 ERA. He broke a 3 games losing streak for the reeling Mets last night in convincing fashion going 8 strong ininng and a career high 125 pitches. That's what an ace is. He gives his team a chance to win every game he goes. While Brandon Webb has 6 more w's and Todd Lincecum has equal if not better overall stats, you can make a very good case for Santana to be this years NL CY Young winner.
Where this eventually will lead is a postseason birth for the Mets, an eyebrow raising extension for Omar Minaya and a free agent spending spree on pitchers not in Santana's class for the Yankees (Sabathia and Burnett are the two most mentioned names).

The lesson: when you can lock up the best pitcher in baseball in his prime, a left hander no less, for 3 propects you must do it. Now, if the rumors were true and the Yanks would have had to have given up Hughes, Wang or Cano and Melky, plus Tabata, that would have been too much for the Yanks to pull the trigger. Either way, if Santana would have been in the Bronx this season, the Yanks would be getting ready for the White Sox and the Mets would have had their second straight most disappointing September and offseason. Amazing how one great pitcher reverses that.

TPC's Random Thoughts- Fans questions answered and why we need a hot First Lady

On my Fantasy Football Message Board the Ducks posted the following:
As a loyal People's Blog follower, the people want to know many timely things that the People's champ simply ain't providing: --TPC's endorsements. Sure, Palin sounds like TPC (real name), but we want to here more. How are we to vote, TPC, if we know not who our leader is endorsing.
--The bank crisis, the economy, gas prices, and yes, the war on terror. Where are we headed.
--The last game at Yankee stadium. The people want to hear TPC's thoughts...and his memories there. --The truth to the rumors that TPC and the Ducks will be forming a sports talk radio show since the loss of mike and chris. TPC, you can be the smart, arrogant one. I'll be the raving know-nothing lunatic. perfect no?

To the answers and much (or maybe not so much more).

1. While TPC won't get to heavily involved in politics for this site, TPC heavily endorses the McCain-Palin ticket. While TPC wouldn't want to be married to Sarah (she seems even tougher than The People's Lovely Bride) he does endorse her leadership skills and her ability to mix it up. Great choice by what would have been a dead Republican ticket without her.
The fact that she is a somewhat attractive 40+ year old woman in a very unattractive business might have something to do with it. I mean, before Palin, Monica Lewinsky was it. At least Palin brings the game back to respectability.
2. On that note, why can't we get a first lady like Carla Bruni? Now, I'll give France the fries, some pastries and I'll even throw in the toast, but no way should they have a hotter First Lady than the good ole U.S. of A. I think we need to institute a trophy wife policy. Seriously, if that old dude can land Anna Nicole Smith just because he was a billionaire, you don't think we can find someone much hotter who wants to be with the Most Powerful Man in the World? I think this would be the Reality Show of all Reality Shows. The Bachelor on Steroids and HGH while doing shots of Tequila. You throw in some Survivor type challenges, Howie Mandel and his banker and folks, we have "The Next First lady". Hold on while I call Marc Burnett.
3. The bank crisis is a disaster. The Fed is taking some good steps and some bad steps (particularly the current halt on shorting- takes all the checks and balances out of the market and limits hedging). Get Bloomberg in there to fix it. We need a business man not a politician. And F the gas prices. I like Howard Sterns old idea. Drop a bunch of nukes in the Middle East (sans Israel) and put up a flag and call it the United States of America II. Free gas for everyone!
4. TPC's Yankee Stadium memories will be part of an all new piece.
5. TPC is ready to join forces with the Ducks and put Francessa where he belongs. Retirement.
6. If you can't find any other reason but his name is BARACK OBAMA (yes, that might be labeling a whole culture but last I checked we are in a war with Islamic Fundamentalists). Now, he might be a great man and a great potential leader (although most evidence points to the contrary) personally, I'm not willing to find out. The risk is too great.

The People's Champ- Week 3 NFL thoughts

The Giants didn't play great. They actually didn't even play that well at all. However, when time came to put up or shut up, Eli led the team on two relatively easy scoring drives. For those scoring at home, Eli is finally the franchise QB the Giants hoped he would be when he was taken #1 overall in 2004.
Speaking of 2004 let's do a quick draft review.
FIrst rounders included Manning, Rivers (who is entering stud city himself), Larry Fitzgerald (stud-check), the late Sean Taylor who was great, Winslow, Roy Williams, DeAngelo Hall, Big Ben,. Jonathan Vilma, Lee Evans, Keneche Udeze, Stephen Jackson, Chris Perry and Ben Watson. A great 1st round. Julius Jones, Bob Sanders went in round 2. Cotchery in round 4, Gibril Wilson and Michael Turner in 5. It goes on. Just a great all around draft.
Michael Turner through three games. 366 yards and 5 TD's, both leading the NFL.
Matt Cassel another awful game. He has the bye this week so maybe they get to work on some things, but like I said when Brady went down. There's a reason why he didn't start a game since H.S.
Ronnie Brown had a great game Sunday. He will not come close to repeating that performance again this year.
Desperate supposed contenders who started 0-2 came through this week. San Diego destroyed the J-E-T-S last night. The S.D. offense looks great as Rivers is really coming into his own and LT is still LT. The defense without Merriman looks average at best.
The Jags squeeked out a great win against a Colts team that looks absolutely lost. Their run defense is back to their Pre-Super Bowl winning days (meaning putrid) and Manning and teh offense looks off.
The Browns looked awful again and there are talks in Cleveland that Brady Quinn is getting ready to start. Don't say I didn't warn you about Derek Anderson.
The Broncos offense continues to look scary with Cutler and Marshall leading the way. If Shanahan would just let Young carry the load they would be much better off. With that said, the Broncos D is very shaky.
Buffalo continues to win as Edwards and Lynch are playing very well.
Pitt got surprisingly manhandled by Philly as Big Ben is still hurting. Westbrook got banged up and I wouldn't be in the least surprised to see this continue all season.
Tennesse's D is for real and if Collins can give them anything, they are the favorites to win the AFC. They run the ball well, which will help them control the clock against the other AFC squads, who are all offense, no D, besides Pitt.
Dallas continues to show the most well rounded offensive game in the league. Romo still scares me in a big spot and I don't like the Dallas D. With tha being said, the NFC EAST is So far and away the best division in Football this year, it's scary. I don't see another NFC team even competing with the Giants, Dallas or Philly. Minny could give the Cowboys a run with their great running game and good D, but I don't see Ferotte beating any of those 3 teams in January.
Good to see Larry Johnson get some work. He had a very nice game.
Glad to see Herm Edwards continue to destroy the KC franchise. The Rams, KC and Detroit are far and away the worst teams in the NFL. There isn't even a close 4th.
Miami and Cincy showed some life, Cincy in a loss, but Palmer and TJ looked good and Chris perry is quietly having a nice start to the season.
Can someone locate Santonio Holmes and Braylon Edwards for me? Thank you very much.
I know Tenn D is looking great and Andre Johnson dropped two TD's, but Matt Schaub has to be better than this.
Oakland is playing with a lot of heart for their on the verge to be fired Coach Kiffin. Davis should just leave him be and let him develop that young squad.
Continues to be a great season for Rookie Backs- McFadden, Slaton, Chris Johnson, Forte all have been off to good starts and all are exciting to watch.

Quick thoughts- Ryder Cup, Yankee Stadium Farewell and more

Just some quick thoughts until I have to time to give the following it's proper due:

1. Yankee Stadium Farewell- No one, AND THE ROCK MEANS NO ONE, does that type of celebration (whether it's the farewell, retiring someone's number, ring ceremony, etc) better than the New York Yankees. yes, it's a lot easier when you have that type of tradition to go to. Still, it's nice to see it done properly.
2. ESPN did a very good job on it's pre game show. Good thing FOX and Joe Buck weren't involved.
3. The Yankee faithful gave Bernie Williams the biggest applaue of the night on Bernie's first return to the Stadium since his "retirement". One of the classiests and greatest Yankees of all time.
4. Paul O'Neil is just plain out Cool.
5. I think the most telling moment of the night was the complete and utter ommission of Roger Clemens from the evening. Not one mention of him. Not one video moment of him. Nothing. And good for the Yankees for doing it that way. F him. The lying bastard deserves it.
6. Great job by the Tiger less U.S. team that defeated the Euro's in the Ryder Cup and finally bringing it home, for the first time since '79. Mahan, Kim, and Boo really shined bright for the U.S.
7. Great job by Azinger for his picks and his leadership.
8. Harrington, Westwood and Sergio all failed to show up for the Euro's.
9. After watching Mahan and Kim, it says here, they will win many majors in the future. Both have incredible talent and the game to win majors. I wouldnt be surprised to see a combined 5 between them.
10. What the hell happened in Flushing? Can this happen again? I thought with the great job of Manuel and having Sanatan and Pelfrey on the mound two of the 5 days they would prevent a collapse. As great a job as they are doing, their bullpen is miserable and Reyes is showing two years in a row he doesnt have the stomach for September baseball. Not many Jeter comparisons nowadays.
11. It was great watching Jim Furyk clinch it for the U.S. He's a great guy, a good role model and the only Major Championship winner that ever had the honor of playing a round with The Peoples Champ.

U.S. vs. Europe- The Ryder Cup begins

A very interesting Ryder Cup this year as Tiger Woods is home resting his knee and Europe now boasts the current PLAYING #1 player in Padraig Harrington. Paddy has shown incredible "testicular fortitude" in winning 3 of the last 6 majors (and a little help from reverse testicular fortitude by Sergio Garcia). Interestingly he has only a career record of 7-8-2 in Ryder Cup play (his "bitch" Sergio, by contrast, has a 14-4-2 record).

10:24AM EST
Todays early matches pit the U.S. top player, Phil Mickelson with Anthony Kim against Paddy and Robert Karlsson. Thru 9 holes the matches is all squared.
Other matches Have U.S. Justin Leonard and Hunter Mahan leading Henrik Stenson and Paul Casey 2 up thru 8.
Europe's Justin Rose and Ian "Mr. Pink" Poulter have a 3 up lead thru 7 on Stewart Cink and controversial Captains pick Chad Campbell.
U.S. Kenny Perry and The People's Champ favorite, Jim Furyk are all square with Lee Westwood and Sergio just underway.

10:47 EST
Paddy and Karlsson now up 2 thru 11 on Philly Mick and Kim. Looks like their #1 is better than our #1 right now.
Leonard/Mahan now 1 up thru 11 on Stenson/Casey
Rose/Pinky 2 up thru 9 over Cink and Campbell (I hate that pairing)
Furyk/Perry 1 up thru 8 on Sergio/Westwood.

11:24 AM EST

Phil and Kim are trying to stage a comeback, winning the last 2 holes, 1 down after 14. This could be a major boost to TEAM USA if they can squeek out tie or better yet a victory.
Rose and Pinky's lead has also shrunk to 1 up, now thru 11. The other scores are holding as is.

11:34 EST

BIG TURN OF EVENTS. Phil just birdied 15 to square the match and Poulter just put a wedge shot in the water that will square up that match after Campbell putts (putt was conceded but Campbell makes it anyway). Amazing! US still leads the other two matches.

11:38 EST

Hometown favorite Kenny Perry birdied 12 to give the US a 2 up lead thru 12 in that match.

11:46 EST

Be back in a few hours. Europe hasn't won a hole in an hour!

2:20 EST

U.S. up 3-1
Mickelson-Kim and Furyk -Perry earned halves.
Leonard-Mahan won 3 and 2, Cink and Campbell won 1 up.
Big early pleasant surprise for the U.S. squad.
Afternoon matches:
Paddy and McDowell lead Phil and Kim 2 up thru 5
Leonard-Mahan up 1 thru 1 over Garcia and Jimenez
Stricker-Curtis all square with Poulter Rose thru 3.
Holmes Weekly up 1 thru 1 over Westwood-Hansen

Leonard just missed a hole in 1 on the 3rd by an inch!
Interesting both Perry and Furyk are sitting out the afternoon matches for the U.S.

Kurt Warner- All Time Great or Fraud?

As many now know, I have taken a very strong stance regarding my feelings of Kurt Warner as an NFL QB. I have stated many times, with time to set up in the pocket, Warner is as good as any QB to ever play the position.

Now, taking hyperbole and opinion out of the equation, let's see if the FACTS back up The People's Champ and see if the common "against" statements are true or false.

1- Warner was the beneficiary of the friendliest QB system in history with the Greatest Show on Turf:

FALSE

Warner received his job when Trent Green went down to a season ending injury. Warner came in and subsequently threw 3 TD's in route to his MVP 41 TD 109.2 QB rating MVP and Super Bowl MVP season.

The season before in Vermiel's second season as coach of the Rams, Tony Banks was the QB, and the Rams finished 4-12. His first season they were 5-11. In 1999 no one expected the Rams to do much more. ESPN in their pre season rankings had the Rams ranked #25. Sean Salisbury said ".500 should be their goal". CNN SI ranked them 21.

Now to be fair, much changed for the 1999 Rams. They traded for Marshall Faulk (who's interestingly averaged almost a yard and a half more per carry with Warner as his QB than with Manning). Bruce was back from injury and they drafted Tory Holt. With all that being said, no one was predicting an MVP season for Green or anything near a SB. Systems are important but the QB needs to be the engine that drives it. Warner did that in 1999 to a top 5 statistical season in NFL history AND a SB ring.

2- His supporting cast made him, not the other way around:

FALSE

This is very easy to say when you play with an all time great like Faulk and Pro Bowlers like Bruce and Holt. let's see what the facts tell us.

In 1998 with Faulk playing with an unseasoned Peyton Manning, he averaged 20 carries per game with a 4.1 avg and 5 receptions for 57 ypg. He totaled 2200+ yards. Amazing season. In 1999 he averaged only 16 carrieds per game but for a whopping 5.5 ypc and 5.4 receptions for 65 yards a game. Both averages up significantly.

In 2002 with Warner hurt and Bulger his QB on the same offense he averaged only 4.5 ypc and 5.7 ypr. In 2003 with Bulger exclusively he averaged on 3.9YPC and 6.4 YPR In comparison, 2001, Warner's last full season and healthy season with St. Louis (and as some would say the final year on his contract which sold his soul to the devil) Faulk averaged 5.3YPC and 9.2 YPR. Granted 2002 and 2003 was later in his career and he got hurt as well, but those are significant drops. The best comparison would be to look at 2000 when Warner played and got hurt and Green took over:

The SB Champ Rams were 6-0 when Warner got hurt. When he came back they were 8-4 and The Greatest Show on Turf was no more. Trent Green went 2-3 as a starter with a 60% completion % to Warners 67%. Interestingly Green was sacked more in his 5 games (and 3 in relief) than Warner with almost 90 more attempts. Warner also had a yard more per attempt average than Green a significant stat. It leads you to believe Warner got the ball to his receivers quicker and in better position than Green.

The same argument is being made now that he is playing in Arizona with two stud WR's (Fitzgerald and Boldin). The numbers still point to Warner being the engine rather than being the beneficiary.
In 2005 splitting time with Josh McCown . Warner had a 64.5 to 60.4 Completion % split over Josh McCown and had a 7.2 to 6.8 Yards per attempt margin.
In 2006, playing 2nd fiddle to #1 draft pick, Matt Leinart, Warner had an even larger edge 64..3 to 56.8 on completion percentage and 7.2 to 5.6 on YPA.
2007, Arizona finally got to their senses and gave Warner the full time job midway through the season. Again, same system, same supporting cast, Warner went 62.3 to Leinarts 53.6 and 7.6YPA to Leinart's 5.6. Interestingly, Warner also threw 27TD's and this was on a squad that was next to last in the NFL in rushing, so Warner was the system.


Warner is also the 3rd most accurate passer in NFL history. In incredibly telling stats (I think competion % is an overrated stat) he is tied for 4th in Yards per Attempt for his career behind only Otto Graham, Sidd Luckman and Norm Van Brocklin, just ahead of Steve Young, Bart Starr and Johnny Unitas.
For those that think he gets sacked to often and has no mobility limiting his game , he has the highest career Adjusted Passing Yards per attempt (tied with Peyton Manning) which is calculated by adding in sacks and yards lost for sacks.
These stats prove he gets rid of the ball quickly and gets it to the receiver in the right space to maximize their YPC.

The verdict. As laways, TPC is right and the numbers back him up.

Ed Note: Many of the above stats were courtesy of Pro Football Reference.com, THE BEST NFL site for statistics.

U.S. Tax Dollars: Bailout of the financial sector or baggy pants law?

Click Here to read some really stupid stuff

First off, I hate the baggy pants look as much as the next guy. I think it's vulgar, lacks of any class or style and if I wanted to find out what underwear some guy was wearing, I'd kick his ass for the answer. But is this really a case for our justice system to decide? Don't we have better things to do with our cash like bail out more fraudulent Financial Service firms?

I always wonder....

a new feature by The People's Champ about things I wonder about...........

.....why do people always look in the tissue after they blow their nose? What are they expecting to find?
.....why didn't Agent 98 get more press? Seriously, in the 70's you had Ginger, Mary Anne, Pinky Tuscadero and if you really want to go nuts, Jennie Picolo. You're telling me Agent 99 wasn't in that class? She had the 70's boppy haircut, the 70's mini skirt, she packed heat AND she had her number retired by every NHL team for all time. What can beat that? Maybe she wasn't as glamorous as the Movie Star or as cute as Mary Ann? She was much more wholesome than Pinky and down to earth than Jennie. She had the entire package. Okay, would you believe part of the package?
......Speaking of Happy Days, why didn't anyone think there was something wrong with a guy who wore the same clothes everyday, hung out with much younger High School kids, stole money from the juke box and his office was the Men's room at the local diner? Every kid dressed and talked and tried to act like The Fonz and no one thought anything of it.You think this kind of stuff would pass muster these days?
.....why do we drive on parkways and park in driveways? Okay, that's my Steven Wright plug for the day.
.....why we emphasize social skills so much in Nursery and Kindergarten, but we live in a society that is minimizing these skills more and more each day (unless of course you count email, text message, facebook, IM'ing, etc as social skills).

The Great Gig in the Sky

Richard Wright, a founding member of the classic and all time great rock band, Pink Floyd, lost his battle to cancer today at the age of 65.

Wright was an instrumental force in the bands creation along with legends, Syd Barrett, Roger Mason and Roger Waters.

"Rick's keyboards were an integral park of the Pink Floyd sound," said Joe Boyd, a prominent record producer who worked with Pink Floyd early in its career. Wright wrote the Floyd classics "Shine on you crazy Diamond","Echo", "Us and Them" and the place he's playing now, "The Great Gig in the Sky".

Wright had issues primarily with Waters (as did David Gilmour) and left the band after "The Wall" tour was finished. He rejoined the group when Waters left in 1985 and helped produce the albums "The Division Bell" and "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" with Gilmour and Mason.

As David Gilmour said "He was gentle, unassuming and private but his soulful voice and playing were vital, magical components of our most recognized Pink Floyd sound," he said. "I have never played with anyone quite like him."

The People's Champ- Monday Morning NFL Thoughts

I hate Mike Shanahan. I really do (being a Raider fan does that to a guy). I hate him for drafting Selvin Young, who is clearly the best back on the Broncos and the guy is in a RBBC situation. With that being said I absolutely loved the balls he showed Sunday when he went for the W instead of the conventional "when at home play for the tie and Overtime" thinking. You get the feeling that Shanahan really likes this Denver squad and loves Cutler. That was a statement of "I have a franchise QB and he's gonna know it." move. No matter the outcome there, his team knows that Cutler is the unequivical Man and Cutler knows his coach has the utmost confidence in him. Super move by a great coach.
Which is the exact opposite of what happened in the Meadowlands yesterday. Mangini showed he doesn't have the balls to win in the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE. You have a franchise QB and for the second straight week you took the ball out of his hands and this week it cost the Jets the game. How they hand the ball off to Thomas "I couldn't find the end zone" Jones (the fact that he's on my fantasy squad actually causes no antogonism whatsoever towards him..............) and not let Favre make something happen there is beyond belief. An awful job by Mangini.
Matt Cassel showed he is at best a competent, hold down the fort NFL QB. Two numbers show exactly how effective he was: Moss 2 catches 22 yards. 33 rushes, 3.2 YPC. You can get away with that against the Mangini "let's play not to lose" Jets. He won't get away with that against the Steelers, Broncos or Chargers. Don't let the result fool you. The Pats were a vastly different team on the field yesterday with Cassel instead of Brady.
What he did do well, is he kept his team in the game and didn't make any big mistakes. While there's a lot to be said for that, the Pats won't go that far with him just "managing the game".
Which gets me to the Vikings. How they went into this season with Tavaris Jackson as their starting QB is incomprehensible. The guy is awful and he is killing an otherwise very solid team. Peterson would go for 200+ a week if he had a decent QB keeping things honest. As it is, the fact that he is running up these type yardage numbers shows how great a player he is. You dont think Pennington could have helped them? Dante would have ben a major upgrade as would be Simms or Garcia. I wouldn't be surprised to see them make a move soon. The season can get lost fast when you start 0-2.
Rodgers looks pretty good, no? After two weeks, looks like GB made the right decision; for now and the future.
How many more weeks till Derek Anderson loses his job? Don't say I didn't tell you so.
The Giants looked great again yesterday.....at least when it counted. They seem to lose interest when they get a good lead but they have shown they can turn it on when needed. Eli looked great, the running game is special and Tuck might be the best all around defensive lineman in the game. Strahan and Osi who?
Warner threw a proverbial perfect game yesterday, going 19-24 361 yards and 3 TD's for the perfect QB rating of 158.3. I said it once and I'll say it a thousand times, if he has time to set up in the pocket, he's as good as any QB out there. His numbers don't lie. He's also making The People's Sleeper team in the NFC look very formidable.
Seattle is lost with all those injuries. KC is just horrid and all fantasy players would like to personally thank Herm Edwards for taking the most fun and fantasy friendly system and turning it into the worst and most boring team in the NFL. Great job. We play to win the game!
Maybe Brandon Marshall's prediction of 140 catches wasn't so far off? He went 18-166 against one of (if not) the best CB's in the league yesterday. He is simply a beast.
Cincy looks horrid so far and don't say I didn't warn you about Palmer.
Chris Johnson. Fun back to watch. I'm not sure his fantasy impact this season (good to great) but the guy has the "everytime he touches the ball he can bring it to the house" ability. Love it.
Two other rookie RB's are looking excellent as well. Forte and Jonathan Stewart.
Devin Hester: Where are you?
Finally, a very impressive win for the Bills- on the road against the Jags. Buffalo looks to be stepping into the upper echelon of the AFC, while the Jags are now 0-2. The difference? Just look at the QB play of Garrard and Edwards. Garrard has 1 TD and 3 Int's this season. He had 3 int's total last year. Edwards is throwing the ball at a 70.9% accuracy rate with no int's. It's that simple.

Matt Cassel- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

I had the misfortune of owning Tom Brady in one of my Fantasy Leagues (I'm the defending champ no less and I didn't exactly get to many sympathy calls that day to say the least). My backup is an underrated sleeper in my opinion, Matt Schaub. As much as I like Schaub I'm not pinning my whole FF season on him.
The obvious pickup-replacement. Matt Cassel. Let's review and see what we're getting.

The GOOD

Cassel still gets to throw to Randy Moss and Wes Welker, who combined for 220 receptions, over 2600 yards and 31 TD's. Not a bad duo to toss the old pigskin to.
Belichek is an eff-you type of coach. Last year he ran up the score and played for the eff-you TD. This year he sends for two QB replacements (CHris Simms and Tim Rattay) who get to Boston and then says eff-you, doesnt try them out or even have them take a physical. You dont think Belichek wants to show the world that he was the Man and not Brady all these years (Belichek is 48-52 as a Head Coach without the G.O.A.T.)? You dont he wants to have an offense score like crazy with a guy who couldnt even start for his college team? If you think otherwise, you haven't been paying attention the last 5 years.
Cassel also looked relatively good against a horrid D last week in KC.

THE BAD

Well, Cassel couldn't even start for his College squad. How many NFL starting QB's didn't start in College? One. Mr. Cassel. Ouch. (don't give me the Brady didn't start at Michigan. That's a myth. Brady started for two full seasons. His Senior year he split time with Henson, the Golden Boy. He set numerous records for a Michigan QB and even his Senior year when he split time, he still managed to show us a glimpse of the future with his 369 yard 4 TD performance in an OT win against Alabama in the Orange Bowl).

Welker was an afterthought on the Miami Dolphins. That doesn't mean he didn't have a great season last year and didn't play big time (you could make the case if it wasn't for The Catch, he was the Super Bowl MVP). It does mean, Brady had a lot to do with his success, but physically and mentally.

THE UGLY

Cassel barely made the team this year. It came down to a last minute call between he and Matt Gutierrez for the backup QB spot. Not exactly the Montana-Young battle.
He looked horrible in the preseason. One announcer said during a game he couldn't believe he was still on an NFL squad. SI's Don Banks reported he was being cut. This isn't years ago folks, this is a month ago.

Randy Moss has shown (with Minny and Dante and his two season with the Raiders) if he doesn't get along with the Qb and he doesn't get the ball often, he will shut it down. Don't think for a second belichek isn't concerned and on top of this. It's easy to stay focused when you're breaking all time records with the GOAT throwing you the rock. It's another, when you're QB couldn't start over Matt Leinart in college.

TPC's take

I think the easy schedule really helps here. I think Belichek is a good coach who became a great coach because of Brady. His record over 100 games proves me right. If the schedule was a bit harder, I would say the Pats wouldn't even be a .500 team. Unfortunately, they have the easiest schedule in the NFL this season and Belichek won't lose to inferior squads.
I think Cassel will have a modestly succesful season. I'm thinking around 20 TD's in a much more ball controlled offense than the run and gun from last season. I think Morris becomes a must pickup as he will carry a much larger load this season.

I picked up Cassel because the outside chance that Belichek tries to throw another eff-you type dagger up there is very intriguing and the upside is there and there weren't that many other better options. I'm just not sold on it.

New Giants Stadium Sponsor- Nazi connection

The new Giants and Jets Stadium are currently negotiating a deal with Allianz for their Stadium rights.
So, what's the big deal? Most major stadiums have sponsor deals for their stadium rights and the amount of revenue the stadiums receive is staggering. In fact, the current rumor is the New Stadium will receive between $20M and $30M a year from Allianz.
As Repoted by Richard Sandimor of the New York Times, the big deal is Allianz financed facilities and personnel at concentration camps like Auschwitz and Dachau. Kurt Schmitt, its chief executive in the 1930s, served as Hitler's second economics minister and can be seen in a photograph from a rally wearing an SS-Oberführer’s uniform and delivering the Nazi salute with Hitler standing in front of him.
They also insured valuables taken from Jews by Nazi's and they refused to pay life insurance policies of Jews and sent the funds that was due to Jewish beneficiaries to the Nazi's (as most German insurance companies did at the time).
What the hell is Woody Johnson and the Tisch families thinking? THIS IS NYC, the Jewish Capital of the USA, not to mention it's 2008.

As the great Max Kellerman quipped on his ESPN show this AM, "I guess Klu Klux Klan Stadium was already taken".

TPC's Week 1 Fantasy Football Report

1. I hate Mike Shanahan. All preseason we were led to assume Selvin Young would be the feature back in their system. From my vantage point, it seemed Pittman was the key ball carrier before the game got out of hand. With that being said, Cutler looks like the real deal and when Marshall comes back next week, the Broncos will be a lethal offensive force.

2. TPC told you about Michael Turner. 220 yards later, everyone now knows too.

3. Same with Calvin Johnson and Chris Johnson. The rule as always: Listen to TPC.

4. Adrian Peterson is real fun to watch. I like how the Vikings opened up their offense in the second half. They need to use AP more in the passing game. If they do, and if AP stays healthy (a huge if), records will fall. He's worth the price of admission.

5. The Patriots will not be better than 10-6 without Tom Brady. If their schedule was somewhat more competitive I would have said .500. For all the genius that is Bill Belichick, he has a career record of 48-52 without Tom Brady. That's a pretty large line of work to go off. The Pats D is average at best this year and Brady was the system, not the other way around (similar to Peyton in Indy, as opposed to the Greatest Show on Turf Rams).

6. I like what I saw from Aaron Rogers. Under a tremendous amount of pressure, he played extremely well.

7. Seattle looks to be in real trouble. Their offensive line looked horrible and Hasselback has very few tools to work with.

8. I'm not ready to bury the Colts. Manning and Co. will get their timing back. They will be fine but their division looks very tough.

9. Big Ben is a top 5 NFL QB at worst right now. Maybe Top 3.

10. The Bengals and Carson Palmer are in for a long season. Their offensive line is weak and their play calling is shaky.

11. Derek Anderson will not be the Browns starting QB in Week 8. Quinn will take over by then.

12. Amazing how all the J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS needed was Brett Favre. And amazing how the acquisition of one player with the loss of one other (albeit the G.O.A.T.) may have dramatically altered the power structure of the AFC East. Maybe even the entire Conference.

13. Eli will be fine. He plays his best when his back is against the wall. Just watch.

14. I like Phillip Rivers guts I just don't love his game.

More to come.........
More to come...............

The G.O.A.T. of all Kiddush Clubs

Three years ago this Simchas Torah, our Fearless Founder, the great visionary "Bald Guy" from our fantasy football leagues, had a revelation.
After and awe inspiring High Holiday season, capped off by a leibidich Simchas Torah, Bald Guy wanted more. He needed more. Like Maverick, Bald Guy felt the need for speed.
He sequestered his friends and together they formed the Holy Kiddush Club. Unlike the Kiddush Club many of this group had frequented in the past, this one would not draw the ire and wrath from the local Rabbi's and general community. No, this Kiddush Club would be a source or Pride and Nachas to the same Rabbi and community. There would be no pre Rabbi's sermon exodus and the inevitable mid mussaf inebriated return.
What is this Kiddush Club? Post shul, every Shabbos since inception, The Holy Group would gather together (as of this writing, 9 members- although one is really a member Emeritus as he shows up as often as Arod in the clutch, about 18% of the time) and learn Mishnayos. Each member prepares and recites one Mishnah, for a total of 8 Mishnayos a week. If there are less than 8 members, one lucky individual prepares two and so forth. If Arod shows up, one member has a"bye week" and listens to the Holy Ramblings of the chevrah.
Usually, this gathering takes place at one of the members houses with the Breakfast of Champions. However, even when there is no "sponsor" or house, the show must go on and we learn in shul. Many obstalces have been overcome but never has a Shabbos gone by that The Holy Kiddush Club (THKC) did not meet.
This past week the THKC earned a well deserved Mazel Tov as we finished Masechet Rosh Hashanah AND Arod showed up all in one week (even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while). Not to mention some seriously spicey chulent from Plain Dans (yet another FF member) most generous bride (currently second in the standings to most hostings trailing only The Chiropractor).
With tremendous Hakoras Hatov to Bald Guy, who not only founded THKC but also manages the weekly schedule, onward to Masechet Taanis and many more of our sages Holy Writings for THKC...............

More G.O.A.T.S.

Potato Chips- Wise's Onion Garlic. We're gonna let John Madden do the color here. "When you're talking about Potato Chips, you're talking about Wise Onion Garlic. Your talking about Onions, your talking about Garlics, you can't beat that! You put those two together, some fried up potatos and some salt HARMMMPHH, you got yourself the Brett Favre of Potato Chips. Now if Pringles had an Onion Garlic that would be like having a Brett Favre at Qb and another Brett Favre at WR!"

Ice Cream Flavor- Haagen Dazs Vanilla Swiss Almond. You can count your own calories.

Driving down a highway with the windows open and the radio blasting song- Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run. "The highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive". Can't beat it. Just drive anywhere in the mountains on a Sunday Morning with no one around, winding rounds; just you and The Boss. Trust me on this.


Breakfast- Schwartz's herring (most preferably Lox and Majtes and Shtiglitz), Tam Tam's, and a few shots of Glenmorainge (Bourbon would work well too). You can throw in some chulent and Kishka, a bissel chopped liver with some turkish salad, and that my friends, is a breakfast of champions.

Lesnar to take on Couture for UFC Gold Nov. 15

Brock Lesnar, former WWE Champion, 2000 NCAA Division I Wrestling Champion and current Ultimate Championship, Mixed Martial Artist (MMA) has gotten his chance at the title, as UFC's President Dana White patched up a year long legal battle with 5 time UFC Heavyweight Champion, Randy "The Natural" Couture.

Many think this is way to soon for Lesnar, who is only just developing MMA skills, including submissions and striking. Lesnar has only 3 career fights (2-1) but after his total domination against Heath Herring, a very legitimate UFC Heavyweight fighter, I think he's up to the challenge.

Lesnar has shown to be the most physically gifted athlete to ever walk into the Octagon. Never has there been seen such an incredible combination of speed and power from such a large fighter (Lesnar stands at 6'3" and a chiseled 265 pounds). Couture, a former NCAA Wrestling Champion took a similar path. However, as great a Champion as Couture has been, I think Lesnar gets the better of him and continues his path to MMA domination. His size, speed, strength and quickly developing MMA skills will prove that Lesnar is, as he was called in the WWE, THE NEXT BIG THING.

The First Drive

"With Eli Manning you're talking about a guy who looks like a new Quarterback after the Super Bowl MVP performance. You're talking about a confident Quarterback who knows the pocket and throws strikes. You're talking about a gutsy Quarterback who knows how to execute the play action to perfection. You're talking All-Madden now that Brett Farve is in the AFC".
Thanks for that quick tidbit Mr. Madden.

The 2008 Fearless Football Forecast

Now that both of my Fantasy Drafts have been completed, I am able to go public with The People's Fearless Forecast.

The J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS will make the playoffs and Brett Favre will finish in the top 5 of the league MVP voting.
He will also cause countless Green Bay Packers fans to throw up in their Cheeseheads not to mention the many orgasmic convulsions of John Madden.
Michael Westbrook will finally break down this season. So will Jamal Lewis.
Brandon Marshall will be the Next Big Thing.
Brady will have an off year, if you consider 38TD's and 4200 yards off.
Eli, excuse me, ELI MANNING-SUPERBOWL XLII MVP will continue to grow and flourish in an offense that returns all 11 of it's starters from it's SUPER BOWL XLII victory.
Derek Anderson will be a huge disappointment this season and make the Browns regret paying him and last years #1 pick, Brady Quinn.
Chris Johnson will be a stud. This season. Bye Bye Lendale.
Reggie Bush will have a big year. So will his QB Drew Brees.
Michael Turner will flourish as a starting RB, something along the lines of 1300 yards rushing and 12 TD's+.
Kurt Warner will continue his recent success and lead Arizona to a playoff spot.
The Steelers will not be as good as most think. Nor will the Vikings. The Steelers will still win their crappy division.
The Raiders wont be as bad. JaMarcus will show flashes of greatness. As will RunDMC.
Did I say Brandon Marshall will be huge this year?
So will Calvin Johnson.
Pennington will show he has something left in the tank. So will Ricky.
Galloway wont. Neither will Marvelous Marvin Harrison, one of the classiest players we have had the privilege to watch.
Marion Barber will not be worthy of the #6-#9 draft position he most frequently went.
Carson Palmer will once again disappoint.
Devin Hester will be electric as a WR for da Bears.
Dante Culpepper will NOT make a comeback from his recent retirement. Not because he lost the itch to play, but because he's awful. He also has the 6th highest completion percentage in NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE history. Which shows you how important that stat is. Take that Eli haters, ummmmm, excuse me, ELI MANNING SUPER BOWL-XLII MVP hatas.
Division Winners
Pats, Steelers, Jags and Chargers in the AFC
Cowboys, Pack, Saints and Cardinal in the NFC
Wild Cards
Jets and Colts in the AFC
Giants and 'Skins in the NFC

Interesting Football Facts and Stats

With the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE about to get underway, I leave you these little known facts and stats, courtesy of my friends at ColdHardFootballFacts.Com and Pro-football-Reference.com.

The All Time NFL Completion % leader is Chad Pennington. Second on that list is Kurt Warner.
(The People's Champ doesn't give much credence to that stat as Dante Culpepper is 6th all time, 5 spots ahead of Tom Brady- The G.O.A.T.).

Warner also has the highest yards per attempt by any QB with over 1,500 attempts since 1978.
(He also has 2 MVP trophies and a Super Bowl Ring. I think Canton should start preparing for the former grocery bagger to enter the hallowed halls).

Chicago's Devin Hester has averaged a record 14.06 yards per punt return in his career (89 for 1,251 yards), shattering the previous record held by another Bears great, George McAfee (12.78 average per punt return), in the 1940s.

Hester, amazingly, also owns the top two single-season dual-return (kick, punt) TD records in history, with six last year, and five in 2006. With two more TD returns this season, the third-year player will – amazingly – tie the career mark of 13 punt- or kick-return TDs set by Brian Mitchell over the course of a record-setting 14-year career.

And yes, he is on both TPC Fantasy Squads this year as the Bears try and get him more touches by being their #1 WR.

Fate Accompli

You can't make this stuff up.
In what will be remembered in the annals of Baseball History for all time, Alex Rodriguez hits the first Home Run ever reviewed by instant replay.
Of course it occurred with the Yanks up 6-3 in the 9th. Another fitting way for Arod to be remembered this season.

The People's League-FF Draft Analysis

For those poor, unfortunate souls who have yet to read The People's Draft Analysis, I need to preface with the following.
This is not an analysis on who will win this seasons league. It is an analysis on how they drafted. Let me explain. Two seasons ago, LT was the first pick in the draft (and every other draft). He set every fantasy record there ever was. I would venture to say he was on 50%+ of the winning squads that season and probably 70%+ on straight points leagues. The team that picked him in our league won easily even though he had a horrid draft. LT was that dominant.
Now, with that being said, this is a momentous occasion in the history of The People's League's, a now 8 year and running Yahoo Fantasy League-both Baseball and Football and until last year hoops. Usually, I just post the Analysis on the leagues website, but we decided to go public and let the world in on our little fun. It's an online draft, 1qb 2rb, 3wr, 1te, 1k, 1 team defense, with .1 point per yard receiving or rushing and .03 for yards passing, 6 for a td, the rest standard.
We have generally the same cast of characters, so I will need to background each player. I will use his team name where I can and will make up nicknames for the ones who so creatively call their team by their real names or initials. You will see, there's a direct correlation to a teams success and his creativity. Overall Score is based on a 1-10 scale, 1 being the lowest.

Now without further ado, the 2008 People's Leagues Draft Review in draft order (except team TPC- best always for last).

DTA- Team DTA has been a league stalwart for much of the leagues 8 years in existence. A perennial contender in Baseball (a two time winner including the famous 2006 most dominant season of all time- clinched the league June 1st), a relatively successful Fantasy hoops career (including being the Afa to my Sika on The Wild Samoans in a different NBA league) and a putrid NFL career, a highest finish of 4th all the way back to 2005. Team DTA is the classic message board ranter. Has the typical "second team in the city mentality" of being a NY Mets and Islander fan. You know the kind. The guy who gets almost (some would say even more) as much pleasure watching the Yankees (and most notably Arod) fail, as he does watching his beloved Mets win. With that being said, he is a Pittsburgh Steeler fan in real life and was fortunate to land the first pick in this draft.
So, we go back to September 1st, 9:30PM on a lovely Labor Day evening and DTA takes LT, the greatest all around RB I have ever seen (and probably you too, unless your really old and saw Jim Brown or a little less older and saw Sweetness in his prime). So far so good. In the snake draft we have, DTA next picked at #24 and 25 and took Marques Colston and Drew Bress. With TO, Moss, Wayne, Andre Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald and Braylon Edwards off the board, DTA took the best available wideout not named Brandon Marshall. The Brees pick was very nice in the 3rd round considering where Manning went (1st round-a discussion for later on). His next two picks were Winslow and Boldin, and although you can argue he went to early, Winslow wasn't coming back in 24 picks and he wanted to lock up a top 3 TE. Boldin is a solid #2WR. At this point, he has according to The People's rankings, the #1RB, #3QB, #2TE and two very decent WR's. A very good start. This is usually where we lose DTA. Round 6 and 7 he reaches on Fred Taylor and Maurice Morris, both guys RBBC (running back by committee) at best, with potential starters like Edge, Mendenhall and Green all available. He rounds off his WR crew next round with Jerry Porter and locks up a Chicago D in round 9. IMO, 4 lost rounds considering who was still out there. I love his QB #2 he got in round 10, a major sleeper in Matt Schaub and a nice sleeper WR in Rice. His last 4 picks were basically irrelevant although he might get some value out of Kevin Jones.
A very nice job and a very nice squad especially if Morris becomes the featured back in Seattle.
Overall Score: 6. Would have been higher except for the Worst Pick to follow. Best value pick: Schaub at 10. Worst pick: Not locking up LT's handcuff. Huge mistake.

The Ducks- In the long history of our leagues, The People's Champs greatest rival has been The Ducks. In the early days of our leagues, The Ducks were the leagues most successful franchise, including a still unprecedented Hoops 3-peat 2000, 2001 and 2002.Unfortunately for the Ducks, they last placed in 2004 (3rd place in Baseball- although they are currently 2nd in Baseball this season). The Ducks have been a notoriously annoying franchise, creating tremendous turmoil and conflict with pretty much every other franchise over the course of the last 8 seasons. With that being said, they are a league stalwart, always active on the message boards and trade boards and is generally a good GM despite his conflicting nature. Plus, we have a sidebet every league which has paid my mortgage and tuition bills the last few years, with TPC winning 14 out of the 15 past seasons. The Ducks, for all their past glories have been awful in football. Their best finish was 4th 2002, 2003 and 2004. They were 10th in 2006 and 8th last year.
With the 3rd pick the Ducks selected Brian Westbrook, a solid choice no brainer there (with AP off the board). Round 2 brought the Ducks Braylon Edwards, a solid WR #1. The next pick was interesting. Jamal Lewis in round 3 is certainly a good value, I would just rather have Michael Turner, Selvin Young or even Reggie Bush there. I think the time we start seeing Jamal breakdown is coming close and I don't see Derrik Anderson having near the same season this year. The Ducks took their QB in Big Ben round 4. Technically, he's a solid pick, a very good QB, but after the first 3 (Brady and Romo, possibly even Brees), the next 6 or 7 guys are pretty equal, and possibly even more. In fact a QB didn't go the next 3 rounds which lends to my belief. Jennings went next, a reach in my opinion without Farve and White, Williams, C. Johnson and even Cotchery still on the board. The guy only had 900 yards last year, albeit with 12 TD's. In the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE, you can't predict TD's and Jennings could have a 950 7TD type year. Shockey in round 6 was a very interesting pick. IMO, he went too early, but was the last "name TE" on the board and Brees will utilize his skills. Minn D was his 7th pick, the first D off the board. Way to early for any D, even a solid D like Minny playing in an awful division. I love Ahman Green at 8, taking a Kicker in round 10 should be a Felony (Folk), the starting WR core in the 2001 Pro Bowl (Mason and Bruce next), Chris "out for the season" Brown next...........as you can see, the Ducks mailed it in after the Shockey pick.
Overall Score: 5. Westbrook is a great back but has shown to be injury prone and his only other back is Ahman Green (while being a good value at 8, you need to handcuff the #3 pick). Best pick: Green at 8. Worst pick: Minny at 7 or the Kicker at 10. Inexcusable.

Bald Guy- Due to the creative nature of the owner of this squad we will not use his teams real name (his real initials) so he will be the BG. BG is a nice and cuddly character who is putrid at sports fantasy. His best finish in any of our leagues is 7th last year in Football and Baseball (although he is currently 3rd in Baseball). BG is a good owner, tries to make trades, keeps up with the league, is active on the boards, however he's just incompetent.
He took Stephen Jackson with the #4 pick. I would have went Addai and Brady, but not a bad pick. #2 he went Jones-Drew which if Taylor goes down is a great pick, but not with your 2nd rounder with some stud WR's out there and some decent #1 RB's. He could have had him at 3 and a top WR (Edwards, Fitzgerald, etc. See above). Went with TJ Houz, nice pick at 3, easily the best WR on the board at that point. JG kept to pattern taking a very good upside RB, but a RBBC guy in Stewart at 4 and a very good WR #2 in Roy Williams at 5. Kevin Curtis at 6 is awful considering he might be done for the year. McNabb was a good value QB at 7, Mendenhall a good pick at 8. Kitna at 9 was a huge reach. He shouldn't have been drafted. Jax in round 10 was very nice- much better than taking Minny 3 rounds earlier. JG mailed in the rest of the draft- which is 6 rounds later than usual, so that's a good thing (some 2nd rate TE's and a Kicker).
Overall Score: 3.5 No backup WR's and 2 questionable QB's. If he paid attention after round 8, he could have been decent. Best Pick: Mendenhall round 8. Worst pick: Curtis.

Shishkabobs-Wow. How do you describe the indescribable, explain the unexplainable? Sheesh as we affectionately call him is a friend of mine, who in real life bears no resemblance to his "fantasy life". A mild mannered business man (and family man) by day, Sheesh becomes a raving, incoherent lunatic once he hits the boards. And, heaven forbid yahoo's website malfunctions we get rants like:

Yahoo Sucks

by Shishkabobs Septemeber 9th, 2007

Wattttttttttttttttttttttt

I said

Yaho suckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkks. Wattttt.

He'll go on for 8 or 9 straight posts just like that. The league wakes up in the morning and lets out a collective 'huh", when we read the boards in the AM. That's Sheesh in a nutshell.

As a player, Sheesh has been very successful, winning Football once and Baseball twice in his 7 years, with some 3rd and 4th place finishes.

Sheesh had the second most enviable position in this years draft. #5 (#1 and LT being first). Sheesh was assured of a very good back or Brady. Couldn't go wrong either way. And with AP and Westbrook consensus 2-3, both injury risks, you can say Addai (his pick) at #5 was a better choice. He took Romo at 2, which was a much better play than Manning in round 1, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Romo being the #1 point scorer this season. Ocho Cinco went in round 3 another good choice. Ocho wants to get paid after this year and he will. McFadden in round 4 will be either another AP of last year type pick, or a bust. You hear conflicting reports. Some say he has no lateral quickness, so he will have a tough time in the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE (ala Reggie Bush), some say he's the greatest talent they have seen. I hope it's the latter. I'm a die hard Silver and Black fan, not a Sheesh fan if your wondering.

Either way, a good choice at 4, when you have a #1WR, QB and RB locked up. Harrison was a reach in round 5. I'm not saying he's done, but he could have had him two rounds later, while White, Johnson and Cotchery were are still on the board. Cooley 6th and James 7th were good value picks. Driver, Dallas D, Reggie Williams all good picks that followed. Pitt was a head scratcher at 11. Someone needs to tell Sheesh they have the toughest schedule in the NATIONAL FOOTBLL LEAGUE this year. Round 15 landed excellent value in Justin Gage.

Overall Score: 7.5 . Good core, great big scoring ability (Addai, Romo, Chad and possible Run DMC). An excellent draft. Only nitpick is not handcuffing Addai. Best Pick: Many including Gage in round 15 and Reggie Williams at 10. Worst Pick: Not handcuffing Addai.

The Atlas Group- The Atlas Group named his team after a now defunct company that employed a few of the players in this league. Yes, he's an attorney. How did you guess? TAG showed early dominance his first two seasons but hasn't made much noise since. Rumor has it, his now estranged brother was the Man behind the Championships. TAG has not proven he can win on his own.
A general contributor to the "The Ducks are freakin annoying the hell out of me" Fan Club and appreciator of the Ducks constant influx of "generous" trade offers, TAG made the first big mistake of the draft. They took Marion Barber over Tom Brady. I like Barber as a RB. But you don't draft a guy who has never been a featured back over the GOAT. He'll go for 35TD's and 4000 Yards this year easy. And he plays every game and every down. And you don't think he's pissed about the loss to the Giants in SUPER BOWL XLII ? This will come back to haunt TAG. 2nd round he grabbed stud WR Andre Johnson. I would have went Edwards there just because of the injury factor, but AJ can be a top 3 wideout. Steve Smith in round 3 was a reach, especially with Plax on the board. He hasn't been the same in 3 years and he's suspended 2 games. He took a vastly overrated Carson Palmer in round 4. Thomas Jones was a good pick in round 5. He will have a great year with the revamped J-E-T-S offensive line and Farve. Evans at 6 was legit. Round 7, TAG took the wrong Dolphin in Ronnie Brown instead of Ricky who went a few picks later. I like Anthony Gonzalez (who he took at ), but he went a round or two early. I like Crayton at 9. Same with Hightower and Slaton 10 and 11. Norwood at 13 was good value and finally a man who waited until the final round to grab a kicker.
Overall Score: 4. An awful first 4 rounds, a very good draft the rest of the way. As the saying goes "you dont win a league in the first few rounds, but you can lose one".
Best Pick: Slaton round 11. Worst Pick: Barber round 1.

The F Man- The F Man is probably the most astute and savvy fantasy manager of everyone in the league sans TPC. He's witty, knowledgeable and generally cocky, for good reason. Oh, and he's also the defending champ of TPL. After years of not winning the big one living in The 5 Towns, The F Man moved to the quiet confines of NJ, where the expectations were lower and the pressures to be The Man, lessened. He was then freed up to think clearly and concentrate, solely, on THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE. On the coattails of Brady- the F Man dominated our league.
Well, it's not to be given a gift and the F Man was given one with Brady as the #7 pick. I had Brady #4 on my board behind LT, AP and Addai. To put Brady's 2007 dominance in perspective, Palmer and Addai combined had only 10 more fantasy points than Brady. Now, Brady wont repeat that crazy season, but it says here, he'll go for a minimum 37TD's and 4000 yards, which will easily make him the Top Fantasy Point Man for 2008. Jacobs at 2 was a nice pick, and with the emergence of Bradshaw, Jacobs will probably stay healthier than he has in the past. Plaxico in round 3 was the best available WR and a legit #1WR. I like Dallas Clarke a lot, but not at #4. LenDale White, who is on the verge of losing his job at 5. Chambers was a decent pick at 6. Bradshaw was taken too early at 7, especially since Ward is the Jacobs handcuff. I like the value of Fargas at 8. Reggie Brown at 9 was solid. Watson at 11 could prove to be a steal. Same with Flakey Jake at 12. The F Man was also astute enough (or rather, not a moron like some of these other Yahoo's) to wait to round 15 to take a kicker.
Overall Score: 4. When your given a gift like Brady at 7, it's hard to screw it up, but the F Man did to an extent. He starts two backs-one who is very injury prone and one who is about to lose his starting job. His WR group is decent and an at best average D (Tenn). At least he has Clarke.
Best Pick: Brady. Worst Pick: White at 5. Should have gone with the better WR's at that spot.


The Mustangs- A relatively new franchise in our leagues and our only Detroit member, which is fun with the Lions and all. The Mustangs are a relatively quiet franchise, although an active owner, doesnt get to involved in the day to day banter of the Trash Talking Boards (must be the water in Detroit. They probably put sedatives in the water to keep the crime down. Detroit is the hotbed of criminal activity in the US). The Mustangs have been a relatively obscure franchise since joining in 2005, consistently finishing in the bottom 3 of the league except a 2nd place finish in 2006 Football. He is also the brother in law of DTA, although more of the saner variety.
Taking Gore 1st with Moss on the board may prove to haunt the 'Stangs, but that's a nitpick. McGahee was a solid choice at #2, the best RB still on the board. Holt was a nice pick at 3. Witten too early at 4 (yes, the 4th round was the TE run round). I love Calvin Johnson at 5. He is going to be a monster this season. Coles a solid choice at 6 (although you could make the case Chambers and Evans were better choices there). Hasselback at 7 was tremendous value and the 'Stangs strategy paid off of locking up their RB, WR and TE early. Nice picks with Berrian at 9 and somehow stole a top 5 defense in Seattle with his last pick (even TPC fell asleep on that one).
Overall Score: 8. Would have been higher but he mailed it in after round 9 and even took 2 kickers (must be a Detroit thing).
Best Pick: Seattle at 15. Worst Pick: Two kickers. Yuch.

Forties and Dimes- Forties has taken to storm the league in his first three years, showing relative success- including a 2nd place finish to the F Man last season (he's also on the verge of his first title this year in Baseball). His bigger claim to fame is his escalating rivalry-feud with the Ducks (yes, you're seeing a pattern here. Everyone feuds with the Ducks) which brings much entertainment to our leagues . Forties is the Commissioner in other leagues including the Hoops league where the Wild Samoans play (TPC and DTA). A very astute GM, who is finally seeing the benefits of his knowledge with his recent successful run.
40's took Moss at #9, a great pick. WR are a lot more valuable in a 3 WR league than a standard 2 WR league, which ups the value of Moss. He then turned around and took the #2 WR in TO. Interesting strategy. Lets see how it pans out. Reggie Bush goes #3, a pick I really like this year. For all Reggie's faults he's a productive fantasy player. Forties got their second starting back in Graham at #4, another productive back to go along with the two monster wideouts. Cotchery at #5 was a nice pick. Says here he'll go for 1200 and 10 with Favre. Kevin Smith at 6 was another nice pick. Anytime you get a #1 back in round 6 you have to be happy. Ricky at #7 was a gift. Same as Chris Johnson at 8 (he will be the starting back by week 4). Warner was solid at #9. Little do people know that Warner had the most TD's in the NFL from week 11 on, including The GOAT. Ginn at 10 was a good reach, especially now with Chad holding down the fort in Miami. The rest of the draft was uneventful. Cincy being his D, his only glaring mistake (Scheffler as his TE wont kill him, but wont help much).
Overall Score:9. He had a strategy and didn't deter. He got the two top WR's, 3 good RB's and a good QB. Classic case of going in with a plan and sticking with it.
Best Pick: Ricky at 7. A possible top 15 RB in the 7th round. Worst Pick: Cincy D. Should have done better than that.

Plain Dan- Plain Dan used to be called Mr. and Mrs. Plain Dan, but Plain Dan decided to be creative and be his own manager and dump Mrs. Plain Dan from his franchise. Plain Vanilla would be way too colorful and zany a term to describe Plain Dan. I'm actually trying to stretch out the description but I really have none. Plain Dan has never competed significantly in any of our leagues, although he did finish 4th his Rookie season in 2002 and 3rd last year. In a "spin your head, that doesn't make sense" attribute to Plain Dan, he's an addicted gambler, currently having side bets including a bet with the Ducks as to who would win more games, the Jets or the Giants. Plain Dan had to limit the bet because of the amount laid on the table this season.
Plain Dan went by the book and took Lynch with the 10th pick-the best player available. Round 2 brought him Reggie Wayne, arguably the #1 WR behind Moss. Round 3 Dan locked up his #2 back in Turner, IMO a great pick. Holmes went 4th, a nice pick, but a bit early considering Roy Williams, Calvin Johnson and Roddy White went all a round later, White being Dans pick in round 5. First 5 picks, Dan locks up a solid backfield and 3 solid WR #1's. Round 6 brought Dan another #1 back, Forte. Deangelo Williams was a reach at 7, and Bulger was awful at 8. Bulger has only played one full season, and from the "wow, I didn't know that department", has a career high of 24 TD passes. And these Rams aren't the The Greatest Show on Turf Rams. To contrast, the much maligned Eli Manning has a career low of 23 TD's in his 3 full seasons. Daniels was a great pick in round 10, a legit top 6 TE this year. Garrard as Dan's backup is a much better real life QB than fantasy QB. GB is a solid D, especially in round 12. The rest of the draft was somewhat uneventful but at least he waited till round 14 to pick a kicker.
Overall Score: 6.5. The best draft ever for Dan. He has a good backfield. Good starting WR's. A good TE and D. His QB's and WR depth are shaky.
Best Pick: Daniels at 10. Worst Pick: Bulger. Warner, Farve, and Delhomme are all better picks and went later.

Shnizel My Nizzel- Easily the most colorful man in Fantasy Sports today, the Shniz has had some success but hasn't gotten the big prize yet. The Shniz is an accomplished card player, cigarette smoker (amongst other herbal products) and the best overweight basketball player you have ever seen. He hasn't taken his game "from the outside" on to the boards as of yet, but we're waiting.
At #11 The Shniz took Portis, who has been a consistently very good back since he entered the NFL except his 2006, his only injury season in the NFL (Portis durability is a major misconception). Round 2 brought the Shniz LJ, a huuuuuuuuuge mistake with Wayne, TO, McGahee, Romo, etc all still on the board. You don't go for that type of risk with that much talent still on the board. Shniz then mailed it in with Gates as his #3 pick. Welker at 4 was another reach at 4. this isn't a reception league. Bowe was an awful pick at 5 with Ward, Chambers and Evans still around. Derek Anderson at 6 was a conventionally good pick, but it says here, he will be a huge bust in 2008. The league has caught up to him. In his last 7 games last season (pretty much half a year) he threw 9 TD's and 10 Int's. That is not good. I liked Santana Moss at 7. SD defense at 8 was solid considering it's the third defense taken. Felix Jones was a nice reach at 9 as was Deuce at 10. The Shnizz mailed in the rest of the draft, but at least he locked up the Portis handcuff in Betts.
Overall Score: 2. Way to many mistakes. A team filled with many questions.
Best Pick: Betts at 15. Worst Pick: LJ, Gates, pretty much the rest of the draft.

The Pisces- The Pisces is easily the most nondescript GM in the history of our leagues. The Pisces, a fellow religious Jew, lives up to the classic definition as he takes up the full minute and thirty seconds he has for every pick he has ever had. If he's given 1:30, he's taking 1:30, not 1:28, not 1:29, the whole 1:30. He has never talked trash at the draft, simply because he cant concentrate on his picks and talk trash at the same time. Now, fundamentally that is a good strategy. Don't get caught up in the hype, concentrate on your own squad and draft strategy. The Pisces draft results show a far different story, although The Pisces did win Football in 2006 and has had a 3rd place finish in Baseball, generally he's been the definition of "dead money". In fact, the line "hey Pisces I hope you brought cash to the draft this year" and "maybe we should take credit cards" has been as standard at our drafts as "with the first pick of the draft_________takes LT".
The Pisces took Peyton first. A HUUUUUUUUUUGE mistake. As great a QB as Manning is in real life, except for his 49TD season he has only 3 30+ TD seasons, the most being 33. To contrast Favre has 4 33+ seasons with another 4 30+ TD seasons. I know Brady hasn't had anywhere near that success, but he's only had the supporting cast once. And he set every record there is that season. Either way, Manning is trending down, his offensive line is banged up and Romo is a better option at this point. Probably Brees as well. Fish then took Grant on the wraparound, an eyebrow raiser considering the all the WR's available (this is a 3 WR league) not to mention some better RB's. Grant is in a much different situation this year without Favre taking the pressure off him. Maroney and Fast Willie Parker went 3 and 4 for Pisces. I can live with Maroney there but there were much better RB's than Parker available. Ward and Gonzalez went 5 and 6. Both decent plays at that spot. Galloway was a nice grab at 7, a player who always manages to land on Team Pisces. NE D was an early reach at 8. Javon Walker was a throwaway at 9. Rudi at 10 ended up working out as he got picked up by Detroit the next day BUT at the time of the draft, Pisces picked him as a Bengal-after he was cut. Hackett was a decent pickup at 11. The rest of the draft was basically mailed in.
Overall Score: 1.5 A very good QB and TE. An extremely weak backfield and WR's. Should have let the computer make the picks. At least he would have had an excuse.
Best Pick: Galloway at 7. Worst Pick: Manning at 1.


The People's Champ- Quite simply: The Most Electrifying Man is Fantasy Sports History.
When discussing the genius of The People's Champ's Fantasy Football knowledge , one brings back memories of Einstein, Edison, Maimonides and Aristotle. A man far beyond his time, Team TPC has been the most successful franchise in the history of the league including back to back hoop titles, baseball titles, but no Football titles despite 3 second place finishes (TPC did win a bigger prize league last season in football). Will this be the season?
With the second pick of the draft, TPC took Adrian Peterson, one of the great talents to hit the NFL but one with many question marks. TPC was contemplating Addai at that spot, but the upside was to high with AP. TPC nabbed Fitzgerald at the end of round 2 and Brandon Marshall in round 3. It says here, Marshall is a top 3 WR by seasons end. He is clearly a beast, a man playing amongst boys. Selvin Young went 4. Selvin has declared his goal of 2000 rushing yards this season and TPC loves the enthusiasm. Chris Perry, a superstar running back in the making, went 5. Due to AP's durability, TPC was forced to take stud backup Taylor 6th. FANTSY RULE #1. YOU DON'T DRAFT A RB EARLY AND NOT GET HIS HANDCUFF.
Cutler went at 7, a stud QB in the making, although possibly a round or two early here. A mistake in Manning (TPC was away from his computer and that was who the CPU drafted. Interesting as the Ducks and TPC were arguing all night about the attributes of the Great Eli) although TPC does state Eli, excuse me, SUPER BOWL XLII MVP ELI MANNING will have a very good year. Giants D went next at 9, again, a good D but probably a round or two early. Team TPC then took it up a notch landing Curry at 10, Brett Favre at 11 and the steal of this years draft, Devin "Mr. Excitement" Hester at 12. TPC took his TE at 13 in Utecht a major sleeper in the Cincy system and a gamble on Heap at 15.
Overall, it was far from TPC's best draft, although he does boast an explosive backfield, a great WR combination and 3 good QB's (ummmmmmmmm, you don't need 3 good QB's).
With that being said there were some glaring mistakes (Manning) and some great picks (Curry and Hester).
Overall Score: 10. If TPC didn't take 4 hours to write this damn analysis, probably around a 6.
Best pick: Hester Worst pick: Manning. When the SUPER BOWL XLII MVP is your worst pick, your doing something right.


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